Several weeks after overseeing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta violated security rules by revealing the name of the raid commander to the writer of the film "Zero Dark Thirty," according to a draft report by US Defence Department investigators.

Former US Secretary of Defence Leon PanettaPhoto: AFP

By AP

12:43AM BST 06 Jun 2013

The unpublished report was first disclosed by the Project on Government Oversight and confirmed by Rep. Peter King, who asked for the investigation nearly two years ago.

Mr King, a Republican, said he has been briefed on contents of the report but has not been told when a final version will be completed. He said it confirmed his suspicion that the Obama administration cut corners on security in its dealings with Hollywood executives eager to produce a film about the May 2, 2011, raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

"CIA was very sloppy and the administration was very sloppy in enforcing security procedures when it came to Hollywood," Mr King said. "It almost seems as if they were star-struck."

The episode is among many that have raised questions about leaks of classified information and the apparently selective enforcement of security rules by government officials.

The Defense Department had no comment.

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The report cited two instances when administration officials divulged the names of individuals involved in the bin Laden operation - in both cases to makers of the film "Zero Dark Thirty." The film told the story of the decade-long hunt for the al-Qaeda leader and the Navy commando raid in which he was killed.

The first instance was a July 15, 2011, interview of the Pentagon's top intelligence official, Michael Vickers, by the film's director, Kathryn Bigelow, and screenwriter Mark Boal. In that session Mr Vickers gave them the name of a special operations planner whose identity was supposed to be protected from public release, the report said.

The second instance was a June 24, 2011, awards ceremony at CIA headquarters in which Mr Panetta identified the ground commander of the SEALs raid, with Mr Boal in attendance. The report did not say whether Mr Panetta knew Mr Boal was present. But a former agency official who was present at the ceremony said that Mr Panetta did not know Mr Boal was in the audience and assumed that everyone in the audience of at least several hundred people had proper security clearances.

The report said the ground commander's name was supposed to be protected from public release, under federal law. It also said without further explanation that Mr Panetta "also provided (Defense Department) information identified by original classification authorities as top secret."

Several days after the ceremony, Mr Panetta became defense secretary. He held that post until February, when he retired.

A telephone call to his office in California on Wednesday was not immediately returned.

"I think Secretary Panetta should explain what happened, why it happened," Mr King said. "And that's all I'll say right now on it. It is a serious matter. I'm sure there was no malice at all by Panetta."

The draft report said that although one or both of the movie executives were present at both the Mr Vickers interview and the CIA awards ceremony, investigators concluded that no classified or sensitive information about Navy commando tactics, techniques or procedures were exposed.